Exploring the unlikely intersections of walking, photography and making

November 1. Day of the Dead in Mexico City. We are in Mercado Jamaica, in the Venustiano Carranza neighbourhood, about 5 kilometres southeast of our hotel. It is here, in this bustling flower and food market, that families come to buy marigolds with the hope that their vivid colour and floral scent will guide their dead ancestors to altars (ofrendas) they will set up this evening.

Our guide for the next few hours is Ariane Ruiz from Eat Mexico tour company. Her knowledge is invaluable, helping our small group of anglophones comprehend the Mexican concept of death and the role of ofrendas on Dia de Muertos. Of no less importance, she guides us in anexploration of street food found in and around the market.

I will let the pictures do the talking as we navigate the aisles of Mercado Jamaica.

A beauty salon’s streetside ofrendaA taste of the street.Preparing huaraches at El Huarache de Jamaica. An oblong base of masa dough and pinto bean paste is fried and topped with meats, cheeses, eggs.Piloncill (brown cane sugar cones).SquashBuild-your-own-ofrenda.ArtTasty chapulines (grasshoppers) finished with lime and salt.Candied figsCandied fruit and sweet potatoVegetable marketChoice of meat at a taco standMy taco with morongo (blood sausage)Taco standNopales (cactus pads)Fresh chicharrones (fried pork rind)Sawing squashMarigolds for Dia de MuertoMarigold petals to spread on an ofrendaUnloading marigoldsOff to the ofrendaOfrenda at the Mercado JamaicaOfrenda at the Mercado JamaicaSaffron-toned poultryHuitlacoche (edible corn fungus)Scraping nopalesMole, sold as a dry powder or pre-mixed with oilPreparing a chicken stewThere are over 1,000 stands selling flowers in Mercado JamaicaInside the flower marketChoosing a bouquetElote (boiled or grilled cob of corn with mayonnaise, cotija cheese and chili pepper)Esquites (corn salad) at far leftGrilled cornPan de Muerto (sweet Day of the Dead bread)Our guide, Ariane Ruiz, outside a pulqueria.A final toast of pulque (an alcoholic drink made from the fermented sap of agave cactus)

Welcome to Walkclickmake

David Firman, photographer, writer and creator of WalkClickMake. I'm usually behind the camera which makes this photo fairly rare. Thanks to my wife, Gail Perry for taking it (we were on the Camino de Santiago) and, more importantly, editing the text for every post!